Knit garment



C. L. MARTIN KNIT GARMENT Sept. 1,1936.

Filed NOV. 14, 1935 $4 M m 4 a m [175F195 L fillr2512 Patented Sept. 1, 1936 barre stares KNIT GARMENT Charles Lewis Martin, Winston- Salem, N. 0., assignor to Indera Mills Company, Winston- Salem, N 0., a corporation of North Carolina Application November 14, 1935, Serial No. 49,852,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in knit slips and like articles of apparel of greater-thanknee-length type.

It has long been a'matter of objection'in garments of this type that an unsightly bulging knee zone develops due to the'continual kicking of the wearersknees against the fabric, in walking. This occurs because certain of the wales of the fabric as customarily knit have an inherent tendency to bulge outward, which tendency in the fabric, while new, is thwarted by the firmness of the knitting and other factors, but as soon as fullness is induced in the meshes by the pressure of the knees, the wales are free to exercise their urge to curl and a permanent bulge results.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision ofa garment in which the normal characteristic of the outwardly curling wales is modified in the knee zone so as to counteract this tendency of the fabric to bulge.

Another object of the invention is to form the knee zone into a plurality of narrow bands, those alternate bands which include the wales having the tendency to bulge outwardly being modified in the manner indicated to nullify this tendency and the intervening wales being knit in the manner of the basic garment, so as to create a condition of limpness or inertness in the knee zone; reducing its stiffness, thereby making it more comfortable to contact with the knees and avoiding the concave or dished appearance of the knee zone in the garment when new, and which arises from the fact that the wales in the knee zone which are left unmodified have the tendency to curl backward, that is to say, toward the body.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and prac- 40 tical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing throughout the several figures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a front view in elevation of a slip 45 or under-skirt embodying the generic principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the lower portion of a skirt showing the knee zone divided into alternate bands having modified wales and Wales similar to those of the basic fabric;

Figure 3 represents in open formation an illustrative yarn pattern, the upper two courses of which represent the knitting of the body fab- 55 ric, the next two courses being marginal or transition courses and the lowermost courses repre- L senting the modification employed in counteracting the curl of the alternate or back wales; and

Figure 4 is a'similar view illustrating the inter-looped yarn courses that form the back wales 5 in the knee zone.

Referring nowin detail to the several figures, the numeral i represents a slip having the body portion 2 knit with a single tuck pattern which as will beobserved from the upper two courses 'in Figure 3 consists of face wales 3 and back wales 4 in alternation, the face wales being made by successively inter-looping the yarn of each course, drawing the yarn toward the face of the fabric. The face wales may be formed by cylini der needles which cast the loop on each successive feed. 7

The-back wales 4 are made by dial needles whichdraw a loop in the yarn of one course through a loop in another course toward the back of the fabric. In knitting'the body each dial needle forms a loop on one feed and casts on the next. I

Figure 3 shows in the body portion represented by the first two courses, the yarn course or feed 5 inter-looped with the yarn course 6 in the back'wales to form loops 1, said yarns of course 8 being looped to form one of the loops 9 of the face wales 3 in every yarn course, but not looped in the back wales,

In the knitting as described, the face wales 3 have a tendency to bulge out away from the body ofthe wearerwhile the'back wales 4 have the tendency to bulge in the opposite direction.

'Since the face wales are however much firmer than the back wales due to their continual and regular loop, the tendency of the fabric to bulge outward predominates and although the fabric when new may lie flat, due to the stiffness inherent to the newness of the yarn, the fullness 40 which develops due to the continual pressure of the knees against the fabric loosens the meshes so that the predominant tendency of the fabric to bulge outward is unrestrained and a permanent bulging of the fabric in the zone contacted 5 by the knees results.

Now, referring to the two lowermost courses of knitting in Figure 3 or to Figure 4, it will be observed that the face wales 3 continue to be looped in every course just as in the body portion of the fabric and that the face wales alternate with the back wales 4. In the back wales, however, in contra-distinction to the back wales of the body portion, the yarns of the two intermediate courses I!) and II pass over the face of the loop in course H! to form what has been designated a double tuck or yarn interlace l3.

The result of knitting the knee zone as described tends to flatten and strengthen the face wales and restrain the tendency of these wales to bulge longitudinally toward the face of the fabric, the back wales 4 being left to follow their normal tendency to cause the fabric to bulge toward the back and assist the said radiating yarns to overcome the normal bias of the face wales 3.

Thus by substituting a double tuck stitch in the back wales in the knee zone for the single tuck stitch in the said back wales in the body fabric, the predominant tendency of the face wales to bulge outward is overcome and in the wearing of the garment there is no tendency of the fabric to assume a permanent bulge under continual pressure by the knees of the wearer.

In the improved construction provided by the present invention, it is sometimes found that when the predominant tendency of the face wales to bulge outward has been nullified, the contrary bias of the back wales causes a slightly dished or concave appearance of the knee zone particularly'in the garment when it is new and unworn. Whether or not this condition occurs depends upon a number of factors, such for example, as the stiffness of the yarn, the coarseness of the knitting, the weight of the fabric, etc. In order to obviate this dishing of the knee zone, the present invention proposes to divide the knee zone into a plurality of narrow circumferential bands consisting in alternation of bands I! in which the double tuck pattern is employed alternating with bands I8 in which the fabric is knit in the same manner as the body portion, that is to say, with a single tuck pattern. This creates a limpness or inertness in the knee zone and avoids any tendency of the latter to bulge in either direction. It also reduces the stiffness of the fabric in the knee zone and makes the garment more comfortable to contact with the knees.

Since the act of walking not only kicks the knees against the skirt in the knee zone, but brings the legs into repeated engagement with that part of the skirt below the knee zone, the

U .taper inwardly in a neat and attractive manner.

It is old in the art to modify the knitting in the hem or selvage at the bottom of a skirt or slip to prevent it curling up at the bottom edge, but this old expedient has never contemplated the prevention of a flare between the bottom of the skirt and the knee zone. The disposition of the modified knit fabric in the form of separated narrow bands from the knee zone down to the bottom of the skirt as taught by the present invention prevents the bottom of the skirt from being stiff and inflexible while at the same time affording those advantages hereinbefore set forth.

While I have illustrated my invention in reference to a slip, it is equally applicable to any knit garment which is subject to bulging due to. repeated or continual engagements therewith by portions of the body. It will be understood to those skilled in the art that my invention concerns primarily with a garment having an integral non-bulging zone provided in regions which may be subjected to intermittent and repeated pressure and only secondarily in the particular nature of the pattern of the knitting by which this result is accomplished.

What I claim is: T.

1. Knit tubular garment comprising a body portion and a non-bulging integral tubular knee zone portion extending circumferentially of said garment intermediate the top and bottom, the fabric of the garment comprising longitudinal face and back wales arranged in alternation extending across said knee zone, said back wales having single tuck stitches in the body portion of. the garment and double tuck stitches in said knee zone, the double tuck stitch courses flattening the face wales throughout said knee zone and inhibiting the normal tendency of the face wales in said zone to bulge outward.

2. Knit tubular garment comprising a body portion and a non-bulging integral tubular knee zone portion extending circumferentially of said garment intermediate the top andbottom, said knee zone being divided into a plurality of narrow transverse bands, the fabric of the garment comprising longitudinal face and back wales arranged in alternation extending across said knee zone, said back wales having single tuck stitches in said body portion and in alternate of said transverse bands, and double tuck'stitches in the remaining alternate transverse bands, the double tuck stitch courses flattening the face wales throughout said knee zone and inhibiting the normal tendency of the face wales to bulge outward;

CHARLES LEWIS MARTIN. 

